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Melbourne: Australian batsman Damien Martyn has announced his immediate retirement from first-class cricket, Cricket Australia said on Friday.
The 35-year-old, who scored 4406 runs in 67 Tests since his debut in 1992, made the surprise announcement as his place in Australia’s third Ashes Test team was under threat after moderate performances in the opening matches against England.
“I would like to advise of my retirement from cricket, effective from today. I do so with a deep awareness of the opportunities that the game and Cricket Australia have provided for me,” the former Western Australia, Yorkshire and Leicestershire batsman said in a statement.
“However, I’m also aware of the tremendous challenges facing Australian cricket including this current Ashes series.
“Such challenges require people who are more than 100 per cent committed, dedicated, disciplined and passionate about the game, what it seeks to achieve and how those involved in the game can best serve cricket, sport and the wider community.
“I feel, therefore, it’s time for me to move aside. I have enjoyed everything the game has given me. I have gained from it more then I could have ever imagined. I have made, in the playing of cricket, life-long friends,” he said.
Australian captain Ricky Ponting said: “This decision is obviously something Damien has thought long and hard about and I know that I and all of the other members of the team will miss him greatly.
“Damien is one of the world’s most unsung players in both forms of the game and I don’t think it is really understood how good a player he actually is.”
Martyn, who struck 13 Test centuries and 23 fifties, made his debut against the West Indies in Brisbane in 1992. (Reuters)